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Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas-Bianchi

5 July 2005

ProTour Man: Pais Vasco, Classics and The Giro

 

Italian cyclist Danilo di Luca has been surprising and impressing fans all season with monumental wins from the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, to the prestigious Classics of the North and on to a spectacular Giro d'Italia. Not only has he raced above and beyond the call of duty for the Liquigas-Bianchi team, but he has also earned himself the coveted ProTour leader's jersey. Clad in white, The Killer has shocked many with his transformation into a cycling all-star. Perhaps his white ProTour leader's jersey has given him wings.
Interviewed by Luciana of BiciRace.com

Original Italian Version

Potential, Determination and the ProTour Jersey

BiciRace.com:  Ciao Danilo! Welcome to BiciRace.com. We are very happy to have the opportunity to talk with you. It is our pleasure to conduct the interview with you, we have always enjoyed your riding style. In fact, our sources tell us that you have an underground fan club in California made-up of only women!
Danilo Di Luca:  Thank you. I'm very flattered, but also very ... married! All joking aside, the support I have had from my wife over the past few years has been fundamental.
BR:  OK, let's move on to the actual interview... First, congratulations and good job for all of the races that you have won recently, you are absolutely in top form right now. All of us at BiciRace.com have enjoyed watching your impressive victories, you've really arrived on form this year, what has been different for you? Training? Diet? Thoughts? Experience?
DD:  I think that this year my most important weapon for victory has been in my head. I have found a team, Liquigas-Bianchi, that has treated me like a real leader. This has been, for me, a fundamental passage: knowing that I have a team who will work for me and who believes in my potential. The rest I have achieved with determination.
BR:  The determination showed. Can you tell us how it feels to be a champion, one of the best in the peloton?
DD:  I am only now realizing it. To wear the ProTour leader's jersey is something to be proud of, as well as a big responsibility. I hope to keep it until the Giro di Lombardia.
BR:  In addition to wearing the ProTour Jersey, how has it been to have everyone in the peloton watching your every move? Does it make you feel proud or is it a bit suffocating?
DD:  Actually I'm not used to having so much attention, but I have to say that to be recognized in the peloton is something that gives me security. I would say that I feel proud and it gives me an extraordinary motivation.

Success in the Giro d'Italia

BR:  What is the atmosphere like in the Liquigas-Bianchi team? The team is strong. There are many leaders on the team who could try for the win in the same race. How do you decide who goes for the win?
DD:  It's really a great atmosphere on the team. I don't think we have problems with internal rivalry. We have always been willing to help each other, according to the tactics that the DS decides to follow and also according to our physical conditions. Personally, I have demonstrated in past races, and also the Giro, that I didn't have any objections in helping my teammates.
BR:  And for you what was the hardest stage of this year's Giro? Colle delle Finestre (stage 19)?
DD:  I would say yes. That stage was the hardest, the most spectacular and also the most exciting. It was there that I felt I needed to take chances and I believe I did really well in the climbs. It's too bad that I cramped at the end of the descent. But next year will be different.
BR:  We will be watching in 2006! Explain to the BiciRace.com readers how you feel now, after the 2005 Giro d'Italia?
DD:  I'm beginning to realize the significance of what has happened. From the victory of Pais Vasco to the Northern classics, and then also in the Giro so many things happened and my life without a doubt has changed. I try to be grounded. I am enjoying my deserved rest, and my family and I are planning for the future.

Food and Life

BR:  When you were growing up, at what point did you realize you were destined to be a pro bike racer?
DD:  Since childhood. It was a sort of calling.
BR:  Who was/is your cycling inspiration?
DD:  Of all cyclists, I would say Miguel Indurain, but among Italian cyclists, I would say Gianni Bugno.
BR:  What's the story behind your nick-name, "The Killer"?
DD:  It was the journalists who gave me that nickname, for my determination in my perseverance for an objective and to obtain it.
BR:  It is a nice nick-name. What's your favorite meal? Do you pay a lot of attention to your diet? Specifically pre-race/training and post-training recovery?
DD:  Rigatoni agli scampi [big tube pasta with shrimp]. I pay attention to diet, but without exaggeration.
BR:  What kind of music do you like? American Music?
DD:  My favorite solo artist is Sting, but I also listen to American music.
BR:  You are a musician who also makes music. A drummer, right? Tell us about your musical background. Do you play music with any other cyclists?
DD:  To tell you the truth, I can't call myself a real and true musician. I mess around with the drums because of my brother Aldo's influence, and he belongs to a real band. I've never played with other racers, but I'm ready for any offers!
BR:  OK, offers can be sent through BiciRace.com! We have heard that you are from le Marche region in Italy. What's it like in your home town? Do you spend much time there in between races or in the off season?
DD:  Actually, I am from Abruzzo, from Spoltore, near Pescara. I love where I'm from. I have always lived there since I was born. I was wearing the maglia rosa in Aquila [stage 5], very close to my home. That was one of the biggest moments of the year for me. Now I am finishing my new house in Pescara, in the center of a city that I really love, and it's really close to the sea.
BR:  The victory was great, we were excited too. Danilo, it has been a real pleasure chatting with you. Please drop by BiciRace.com headquarters next time you are on Lake Como.
DD:  My pleasure. A presto!

2003 Worlds with Bettini, photo: BiciRace.com
Milano-Sanremo, photo: BiciRace.com
After Amstel Gold Race with Bianchi, photo: Liquigas-Bianchi
Giro Podium, In Pink, photo: Graham Watson, Saunier Duval
Giro, White Bianchi, photo: BiciRace.com
Giro Stage 3 win over Cunego, photo: Liquigas-Bianchi

Danilo Di Luca has a cool website.